Global Education City & Jeju International School & No Excuse
I was reading about the proposed "Jeju International School" over at the website they have for the Global Education City Project.
If you are at least semi-conscious, you have heard about the grand plan to make Jeju a "Hub" of English education.
A quick rundown on the plan taken from ther Project brochure:
Purpose: Raising national competitiveness by absorbing demand for overseas study/training and improving command of the English language.
Project Period: 2008 - 2015
Location: Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo
Major facilities: 12 international schools (1 public/11 private), English Education Center, public facilities, cultural facilities, etc.
Scale of the City: 5,875 households (23,000 people)
Total Project Costs: 1,7800 TRILLION Won
The plan is indeed ambitious. Some, including myself, may even say too ambitious. However, it is my hope that it all comes off without a hitch and Jeju achieves its desired status as a sort of "Mecca" of English education.
But, I have my doubts.
A project like this requires attention to detail. As they say, the devil is in the details. In addition, the requirement to be able to communicate effectively, in English, with foreign (western) school representatives is critical. That is why my reading of the first public advertisement of the project, its website, worries me.
On the home page of the website you can read the "flashing" motto:
Providing Quility education second to none
How many English mistakes can you find in the above motto for the "Jeju International School?"
Then we can move on to the introduction page with a message from Mr Yang Seong-Eon the "Superintendent of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education."
On this "Introducation" page you can read Mr Yang's "Greetiongs."
If you want further information you can consult the brochure about "Jeju Internationl School.
In the brochure you can learn how multinational(?) students, as well as, other characteristics will combine to make the "Internation School" a success.
I won't even go into the willy-nilly inserting of an Upper Case (capital) letters. It must be a case of "The rules regarding such be damned."
I could go on but I think my point has been made. In my opinion the website having such idiotic mistakes is embarrassing not only to the organization itself, but also to Jeju.
When I went to the page that listed the "Task Force Members" and saw who was repsonsible for the English translations for the project, I nearly fell out of my chair. The name I saw would be VERY familiar to every EPIK teacher on the island. If you don't recognize the Korean name, look at the e-mail address and that should clue you in. I won't name the person here - although I AM tempted.
For something as important as this project, why in the hell can't certain people swallow their pride and let an educated, conscientious NATIVE SPEAKER review all the English language materials before putting them on the 'net.
There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for idiotic mistakes in English to be on the Global Education Project/Jeju International School website when the office responsible for the English has access to well over 150 native speakers!
NO EXCUSE.
(PS: I wonder if I get extra points for using the words "Hub" and "Mecca" in the same post about Jeju?)
If you are at least semi-conscious, you have heard about the grand plan to make Jeju a "Hub" of English education.
A quick rundown on the plan taken from ther Project brochure:
Purpose: Raising national competitiveness by absorbing demand for overseas study/training and improving command of the English language.
Project Period: 2008 - 2015
Location: Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo
Major facilities: 12 international schools (1 public/11 private), English Education Center, public facilities, cultural facilities, etc.
Scale of the City: 5,875 households (23,000 people)
Total Project Costs: 1,7800 TRILLION Won
The plan is indeed ambitious. Some, including myself, may even say too ambitious. However, it is my hope that it all comes off without a hitch and Jeju achieves its desired status as a sort of "Mecca" of English education.
But, I have my doubts.
A project like this requires attention to detail. As they say, the devil is in the details. In addition, the requirement to be able to communicate effectively, in English, with foreign (western) school representatives is critical. That is why my reading of the first public advertisement of the project, its website, worries me.
On the home page of the website you can read the "flashing" motto:
Providing Quility education second to none
How many English mistakes can you find in the above motto for the "Jeju International School?"
Then we can move on to the introduction page with a message from Mr Yang Seong-Eon the "Superintendent of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education."
On this "Introducation" page you can read Mr Yang's "Greetiongs."
If you want further information you can consult the brochure about "Jeju Internationl School.
In the brochure you can learn how multinational(?) students, as well as, other characteristics will combine to make the "Internation School" a success.
I won't even go into the willy-nilly inserting of an Upper Case (capital) letters. It must be a case of "The rules regarding such be damned."
I could go on but I think my point has been made. In my opinion the website having such idiotic mistakes is embarrassing not only to the organization itself, but also to Jeju.
When I went to the page that listed the "Task Force Members" and saw who was repsonsible for the English translations for the project, I nearly fell out of my chair. The name I saw would be VERY familiar to every EPIK teacher on the island. If you don't recognize the Korean name, look at the e-mail address and that should clue you in. I won't name the person here - although I AM tempted.
For something as important as this project, why in the hell can't certain people swallow their pride and let an educated, conscientious NATIVE SPEAKER review all the English language materials before putting them on the 'net.
There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for idiotic mistakes in English to be on the Global Education Project/Jeju International School website when the office responsible for the English has access to well over 150 native speakers!
NO EXCUSE.
(PS: I wonder if I get extra points for using the words "Hub" and "Mecca" in the same post about Jeju?)




